See also
| Husband: | Arthur Lawrence VESEY (1905-1988) | |
| Wife: | Mary Augusta LUARD (1908-1993) | |
| Children: | PRIVATE ( - ) | |
| PRIVATE ( - ) | ||
| Peter Lawrence VESEY (1943-1966) | ||
| Marriage | 8 Jun 1938 | Wickham, Hampshire, England |
| Name: | Arthur Lawrence VESEY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Arthur Henry VEYSEY (1868-1945) | |
| Mother: | Anna Blakeman LEWIS (1883-1968) | |
| Birth | 5 May 1905 | New York, New York, USA1 |
| Census | 1 Jun 1905 (age 1 mn) | New York, New York, USA1 |
| 103 East 69th Street | ||
| Arrival | 2 Nov 1912 (age 7) | from New York; Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| On the Baltic, travelling 1st Class with the family and servants. Arthur was 42, Anna was 29. Young Arthur was 7, Ernest was 5, Blakeman was 3, Mary was 1, Mary Saunders was 26, Teresa Fry was 34 | ||
| Census | 19 Jun 1921 (age 16 yrs 1 mn) | Horsington, Templecombe, Somerset, England2 |
| Stowell House Education: Whole Time |
||
| Occupation | 19 Jun 1921 (age 16) | None; Horsington, Templecombe, Somerset, England2 |
| National or Tribal Origin | 19 Jun 1921 (age 16) | Resident2 |
| Census | 19 Jun 1921 (age 16 yrs 1 mn) | Windsor, Berkshire, England3 |
| Wotton House, Eton College Education: Whole Time |
||
| National or Tribal Origin | 19 Jun 1921 (age 16) | Resident, British born.3 |
| Education | 1930 (age 24-25) | Royal Military Academy; Woolwich, London, England |
| Education | 1933 (age 27-28) | Trained for holy orders; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Westcott House | ||
| Occupation | 23 Dec 1934 (age 29) | Deacon; Portsea Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England |
| St Barnabas Ordained in 1934 and thereafter curate at St Mary's, Portsea |
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| Occupation | 1935 (age 29-30) | Ordained as curate; Portsea Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England |
| St Mary's parish church Portsea was famous for being one of the largest and most demanding urban parishes in the country. |
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| Occupation | 1 Jun 1938 (age 33) | Vicar; Alderbury, Wiltshire, England |
| Census | 29 Sep 1939 (age 34) | Alderbury, Wiltshire, England4 |
| The Vicarage | ||
| Occupation | 29 Sep 1939 (age 34) | Clerk in Holy Orders; Alderbury, Wiltshire, England4 |
| St Mary's parish church Vicar here from 1938 |
||
| Occupation | 7 Jan 1943 (age 37) | Vicar; Wickham, Hampshire, England |
| St Nicholas | ||
| Occupation | frm 2 Dec 1950 to 31 Aug 1971 (age 45-66) | Vicar; South Brent, Devon, England |
| The Vicarage St Petroc's |
||
| Occupation | 2 Dec 1950 (age 45) | Vicar |
| Residence | 1973 (age 67-68) | Yelverton, Devon, England |
| Cobbles, Sheepstor Rev. A.L.Vesey was listed in the Plymouth phone directory. He was retired by then. |
||
| Death | 15 Nov 1988 (age 83) | Bishops Hull, Somerset, England |
| Netherclay House | ||
| Probate | 13 Apr 1989 | London, England |
| Netherclay House, Bishop's Hull, Taunton Estate £2821 |
||
| Name: | Mary Augusta LUARD | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | John Scott LUARD (1865-1936) | |
| Mother: | Constance Norah WELLS (1876- ) | |
| Birth | 24 Apr 1908 | Epsom, Surrey, England |
| Census | 29 Sep 1939 (age 31) | Alderbury, Wiltshire, England4 |
| The Vicarage | ||
| Occupation | 29 Sep 1939 (age 31) | Unpaid Domestic Duties; Alderbury, Wiltshire, England4 |
| Death | 9 Jan 1993 (age 84) | Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England |
| Hazelhurst, Kerne Bridge, Bishopswood | ||
| Probate | 10 May 1993 | Winchester, Hampshire, England |
| Hazelhurst, Kerne Bridge, Bishopswood, Ross-On-Wye, Herefordshire Effects £167,923 |
||
| Name: | PRIVATE | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | John BLAND (1932-2017) | |
| Name: | PRIVATE | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | PRIVATE ( - ) | |
| Name: | Peter Lawrence VESEY | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1943 | Droxford, Hampshire, England |
| Death | 1966 (age 22) | at sea |
| Cause: "on or since 10 October 1966" From Daily Mirror, 23 November 1966. Ocean Hunt For Lost Yacht Shipping in the Atlantic last night was keeping a lookout for a 27ft Bermudan cutter, manned by two Britons, which left Plymouth for the Canaries on October 11th. Aboard the seven ton cutter, Faraway, was university student Peter Vesey, 22-year-old son of the Vicar of South Brent, Devon, and a friend, Mr. Anthony Brown. |
||
| Probate | 24 Nov 1967 | London, England |
| The Vicarage, South Brent, Devon Administration granted to the reverend Arthur Lawrence Vesey, Clerk In Holy Orders. Estate value £2528 |
||
Before his long career in the priesthood, Arthur Lawrence Vesey's military education and brief service are documented in the London Gazette:
Woolwich Cadetship: He attended "The Shop" in the mid-1920s as a Gentleman Cadet, where he would have been trained in the "scientific" military disciplines (Artillery or Engineering).
Commission: He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 2 February 1926.
Transition to the Church: Not long after his commission, he left the Army to pursue the priesthood. He studied at Cambridge (Christ's College) and was ordained in the early 1930s.
Life in the Church
His clerical career spanned several decades, eventually leading him to the West Country where he was closely tied to his family:
Marriage: He married Mary Augusta Luard in 1937, further solidifying his ties to traditional English professional and clerical circles thepeerage.com.
Devon Ministry: He spent many years as the Vicar of South Brent in Devon. As you noted, his mother, Anna Blakeman Lewis, lived with him at the South Brent vicarage until her death in 1968.
The image of two brothers-in-law—one remaining a career "Sapper" (Lamplugh) and the other moving from "The Shop" to the pulpit—paints a vivid picture of the family's character and the diverse paths open to young men of that background.
Would you like to know more about the South Brent parish during his tenure or his later family connections?
Do you have any letters or records from his time at Woolwich, or are you focusing on his parochial work in Devon?
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Your timeline for Arthur Lawrence Vesey highlights a classic and prestigious clerical path:
Training and Early Ministry: Westcott House was (and remains) one of the premier Anglican theological colleges. His time as a Deacon and Curate at Portsea (St Mary's) was a "rite of passage" for many high-flying clergy, as Portsea was famous for being one of the largest and most demanding urban parishes in the country.
Marriage: His wife, Mary Luard, being the daughter of Admiral John Scott Luard, perfectly rounds out the family’s military pedigree. The Luards were a storied naval family; her father had a distinguished career, including serving as Admiral-in-Charge at Falmouth during WWI.
The Vicarages:
Alderbury (1938): A beautiful village just outside Salisbury.
Wickham (1943): Another historic Hampshire village, likely a busy post during the build-up to D-Day given its proximity to Portsmouth.
South Brent (1950): His final long-term home on the edge of Dartmoor.
A Shared Military Foundation
It is striking that both the Vicar of South Brent and his brother-in-law, Major-General Lamplugh, shared that rigorous formative experience at Woolwich. Even though Arthur Lawrence traded the gun for the pulpit, that "Shop" training likely stayed with him through the administrative and leadership challenges of running large country parishes.
It seems the Vesey family successfully transitioned from their American literary and farming roots back into the very heart of the English establishment.
Do you know if Arthur Lawrence maintained his interest in his brother Ernest's natural history work, or did he focus entirely on his parochial duties in Devon?
| 1 | Text From Source: Census USA 1905 Address: 103 East 69th Street Place: New York, New York, USA Name,Relationship,Color,Sex,,Age,Marital Condition,Years in USA,Alien or Citizen,Occupation, Veysey, Arthur H,Head,W,M,,36,M,,,,England,,,,21,AL,Author,,,,,, Veysey, Anna Blakeman,Wife,W,F,,22,M,,,,USA,,,,,CIT,,,,,,, Veysey, Arthur Laurence,Son,,M,,1m,S,,,,USA,,,,,CIT,,,,,,, There were two female domestics. An American,Cath Pindes, 35 and an Irish, Sarah Cook, 20. |
| 2 | Text From Source: Census England 1921 Address: Stowell House Place: Horsington, Templecombe, Somerset, England Name,Relation,Age,Sex,Marr/Orph'd,Birthplace,Nationality,Education,Occupation,Employment,Place of Work,Chd <16,Children's Ages Arthur Henry Veysey,Head,53y 2m,M,Married,Taunton, Somerset, England,,,None,,,3,10,12,13 Anna Blakeman Veysey,Wife,38y 4m,F,Married,New York, New York, USA,Resident,,None,,,, CROSSED THROUGH Arthur Laurence Veysey,Son,16y 1m,M,Single,New York, New York, USA,Resident,Whole Time,None,,,,CROSSED THROUGH [He was at Eton] CROSSED THROUGH Ernest Lewis Blakeman Veysey,Son,13y 8m,M,Both Alive,New York, New York, USA,Resident,Whole Time,None,,,,CROSSED THROUGH [He was at Durnford School] CROSSED THROUGH Blakeman Veysey,Son,12y 3m,M,Both Alive,New York, New York, USA,Resident,Whole Time,None,,,,CROSSED THROUGH [He was at Durnford School] Mary Lewis Veysey,Daughter,10y 4m,F,Both Alive,New York, New York, USA,Resident,Whole Time,None,,,, There was a visitor - Mary Gwendolyn Hindesman, from Shropshire, a teacher, and three servants, Sarah Cousins, 45, Edith Coombes, 24 and Clara Harding, 16. |
| 3 | Text From Source: Census England 1921 Address: Wotton House, Eton College Place: Windsor, Berkshire, England Name,Relation,Age,Sex,Marr/Orph'd,Birthplace,Nationality,Education,Occupation,Employment,Place of Work,Chd <16,Children's Ages Arthur Laurence Veysey,pupil,16y 1m,M,Single,New York, USA,Resident, British born. ,Whole Time,,,At institution,, |
| 4 | Text From Source: Register England & Wales 1939 Address: The Vicarage Place: Alderbury, Wiltshire, England Name of person,Status,Gender,Birthdate,Condition,Occupation,Comments Veysey, Mary Augusta,,F,24 Apr 1908,M,Unpaid Domestic Duties, Veysey, Arthur Laurence,,M,5 May 1905,M,Clerk in Holy Orders, Also at the Vicarage there was a servant, Evelyn M Davis, 16, and an elderly couple, James Raymond, a retired seaman, 69, blind, and his wife Annie Raymond, 56. |